On June 24th, 1654, an ordinance was published for the six months’ assessment for the maintenance of the armies and fleets of the Commonwealth, at the rate of £120,000 per month for the first three months, and £90,000 per month for the rest. Towards each monthly payment of the last sum, Norwich raised £240 and Norfolk £4660. On August 29th, an ordinance was issued for ejecting scandalous and insufficient ministers and schoolmasters; whose qualifications were to be tried by commissioners appointed for that purpose in every county. In consequence of this ordinance many able divines in the kingdom were ejected from their livings, and their places filled by such as best suited the views of the ruling party. During the Commonwealth, the city was put in defence against the royalists, the castle was fortified for the service of Cromwell, the goods of the bishops and clergy were sequestrated, the bishops palace was sacked, the cathedral and churches were plundered and defaced, and Bishop Hall was turned out and driven into retirement at his palace in Heigham, which is still in existence, being used as a tavern called the Dolphin. He died there and was buried in the old church in Heigham. We shall speak more at length of this distinguished prelate in our notice of “The Eminent Citizens” of the 17th century.
On the death of Oliver Cromwell, which happened on September 3rd, 1658, the mayor of Norwich, like the mayors of other towns, received letters from the privy council, notifying that event and the election of his son Richard Cromwell to the dignity of Protector, and commanding him to proclaim the said Richard protector of the three kingdoms, which was done accordingly on the seventh of that month. The new protector’s honours were, however, but of short continuance; for in the month of April, 1659, the army obliged him to dissolve the parliament which he had convoked, and soon afterwards deposed him from his high office. During the fatal contentions respecting the prerogatives of the crown and the privileges of parliament, the city suffered less than might have been expected, and Norfolk less than many other counties.
The citizens, tired of strife and commotion, were among the first to hail the return of monarchy in the person of Charles II., who was proclaimed here on May 10th, 1660, and the sum of £1000 was presented to His Majesty, on behalf of the city, by the mayor, who received the honour of knighthood. In 1663 the king granted to the city the charter by which, with little interruption, it was governed till 1835, when the municipal act came into force. In 1670, Lord Howard presented the corporation with a noble mace of silver gilt, and a gown of crimson velvet for the mayor. In 1671, the king and queen and many nobles visited the city, and were entertained in grand style at the palaces of the bishop and the Duke of Norfolk.
In 1682, a majority of the corporation surrendered to the king the charter which he had granted them nine years before, and in lieu of it a new one was substituted not so favourable to the city; the king having reserved the right of removing magistrates of whom he did not approve.
In 1687, by the mandate of James II., ten aldermen and nineteen councillors were displaced; but the arbitrary conduct of that monarch soon brought about his ruin, and when Henry, Duke of Norfolk, rode into the Market Place at the head of 300 knights and gentlemen and declared for a free parliament, the corporation and citizens responded with loud acclamations. After the glorious revolution of 1688, the first charter of Charles II. was restored to the city, and the aldermen who had been removed were reinstated in their offices.
William and Mary, king and queen of England, began their reign on February 13th, 1688, and during their reign the city flourished exceedingly, and the country in general was prosperous.
In 1697 the coin was regulated afresh, the old money being called in and recoined, for which purpose, mints were established in various places, among others one in this city, which coined £259,371. The quantity of coin and plate brought in here to be coined was 17,709 ounces.
We may here give the statements of two eminent writers respecting Norwich and Norfolk in this century. Sir Thomas Browne, jun., in 1662, wrote as follows about the city and county:—
“Let any stranger find me out so pleasant a county, such good ways, large heaths, three such places as Norwich, Yarmouth, and Lynn, in any county of England, and I’ll be once again a vagabond and visit to them.”
And he wrote so with good reason. Few, if any, of the cities of England then contained more handsome buildings, or presented so good an appearance as did the old city of Norwich, while only London and Bristol surpassed her in the extent and importance of their commerce. Lord Macaulay, in his graphic History of England thus describes the state of the city in the 17th century:—